Decision Made, Future Still Uncertain
by lockhartgardner
Summary: Alicia (and Cary) are starting their own firm. So, what happens next?
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you all so much for the reviews on my last two stories! I'm new to both reading and writing fanfic, so I don't know if it's common courtesy to reply to reviews, but please know I really appreciate them!**

**Anyway, I was asked to write a fic about what I think happens after the season 4 finale, so here goes nothing...**

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Cary's smile was infectious, and Alicia suddenly found herself giddy with excitement.

"Do I even want to know what changed your mind?" Cary asked, not intending to get a reply.

But that was a tough question, one that significantly diminished her cheerful state. There was no right way to say, "Well, I changed my mind for a lot of reasons, one of which was that I want to distance myself, personally, from Will, who, as you know, I had an affair with." And Alicia owed it to Cary to be upfront about this potential issue. There would be tension between Florrick/Agos (she still couldn't believe it) and Lockhart/Gardner already, but this was an extremely intimate complication.

"Alicia?"

She was going to do things right. If she and Cary were going to manage a law firm together, she was not going to start the firm off by withholding something from him, as much as she wanted to.

"Alicia, really, you don't have to explain."

Oh, but she did.

"Cary, I... I'm not going to get into details. You know that I have a... _history_ with Will..." Damn. Not quite the word she wanted to use. Moving on. "Will's not the reason why. But he's connected. You should know that."

"Okay," Cary replied, "Are you saying this is going to cause problems?"

"I'm saying I don't want you to be caught off guard if it does." She considered adding "partner" to the end of that sentence, giving it a playful spin. She was thankful she hadn't.

"Thanks."

There was not much else he could say, she supposed. Now she felt obligated to change the subject and get back to business. They were starting a firm in less than two weeks, and that was what mattered. Not Will. He mattered tangentially, and she'd already explained that to Cary.

"So it's all the fourth-years?" She asked.

"Yup."

"Kalinda, too?" It seemed like a no-brainer. Kalinda would be wherever Alicia was, that was a fact. When Alicia had no intention of leaving, Kalinda had no intention of leaving, and now that Alicia was leaving, Kalinda had been planning to leave all along. That made no sense, but Alicia couldn't imagine it any other way. It wasn't that Kalinda would follow Alicia—though, come to think of it, she might—but rather that Kalinda working with Alicia was the natural order of things.

"Long story. Robyn."

"Definitely no Kalinda?" Surprise, not disappointment. Probably for the better, anyway. Everyone knew there was something between Cary and Kalinda. Alicia didn't want to make any assumptions—God, it had been awful when everyone assumed she was sleeping with Will, back before she actually was sleeping with Will, and then after she stopped sleeping with Will—,but there was. And now, that wouldn't be lingering over her office (and neither would the fact that Kalinda slept with Peter, but that no longer impacted Kalinda and Alicia's working relationship). And Robyn would be a lot easier to manage, since Alicia never viewed her as a peer. Kalinda had helped Alicia get back in the game. Robyn had been the first employee Alicia, as an equity partner, hired. Actually, that would work quite nicely.

"Not unless you want to give it a shot," Cary joked, "Money."

He and Alicia instantly realized what he had said, and exchanged a startled look. Neither of them had meant to put that option on the table. Alicia _did_ have that kind of power; _would_ be able to get Kalinda. Alicia couldn't offer Kalinda more money, no, but the only non-financial bonus Kalinda would consider was working alongside Alicia. Alicia couldn't exploit that. Wouldn't exploit that. Kalinda hurt her deeply, but Alicia was long past the point of contemplating revenge or manipulating her.

"You win some, you lose some. Robyn's good."

"Good," Cary affirmed, "Good."

Wait—something just clicked. Cary had said the only thing preventing Kalinda from jumping firms was money. And that it was a long story. So he'd gone to her first. Did she know he was taking Robyn?

"Cary, does Kalinda know?"

"Oh yeah."

That was not a reassuring "oh yeah." That was a, "Major shit I don't want to relive went down" type of "oh yeah." Now she needed Cary to be the forthcoming one. Their first exercise in partnership. She paused, and raised her eyebrows. Please, continue.

"I didn't handle it well. She found out second-hand. She's not happy. Learned my lesson."

"I see."

An awkward pause.

"We're launching in less than two weeks; I should probably get you caught up."

Eventually there'd come a time when the novelty of being name partner would wear off and reality would set in. But until then... Ah! Alicia had finally found the place to work in her cheesy remark: "Let's get started. Would you like a glass of wine, partner?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm not thrilled with the way this chapter turned out, and I feel a bit like I've written myself into a corner. I could go on and on about all the moments in this where I don't like the way something reads, or where I'm not sure if my analysis is quite on point, but I won't. Instead, I'll just say that you can feel free to be critical! **

* * *

Alicia never wanted to look at a form again. She always knew that one of the downsides to being a lawyer was that she'd, inevitably, have to deal with mounds of paperwork. She did not know how much additional paperwork it took to start your own firm. She was no longer blissfully unaware. An entire night spent looking at page after page after page, number after number after number, as Cary caught her up on all the planning he and the fourth-years (but mostly Cary, Alicia suspected) had done.

He'd finally left at 7 am, so he could get to work at the normal time. It could have waited until lunch and the next evening, in retrospect, but they had both been so eager to get to work that this thought only occurred to Alicia now, at noon (thank goodness she had the day after Peter's election off!), waking up from a nap. Between this all-nighter and the hectic one the night before, Alicia's sleep schedule was never going to be back on track. Florrick, Agos, and Associates would be a nocturnal law firm. That's how they'd stand out. And Alicia was going to Hawaii in just a few days—a five hour time difference! She couldn't believe that her dream vacation was still a go. But Cary had insisted she go through with it. First, she deserved it. (She argued that he deserved a vacation even more). Second, Peter deserved it, and Alicia and Peter wouldn't be spending as much time together once Peter moved to Springfield. (She had no counterargument, too personal). Third, Alicia had already requested time off of work, and notified Grace and Zach's teachers they'd be taking a family vacation, so she couldn't back out without drawing suspicion. (Alicia was convinced by this point). Fourth, it was Hawaii. (Alicia laughed).

Alicia replayed the night in her mind, snippets of conversation in no particular order. Bits and pieces of information came back to her. She'd call Sweeney that day with an update. She'd wait to go after Bishop until they knew if the firm was doing well or not—no need to take ALL of Lockhart/Gardner's top clients (and no need to grab headlines like, "Governor's Wife Starts New Law Firm; Represents Wife Killers and Drug Dealers"). The fourth years had been bickering for weeks over who the second name partner would be; it was either going to be all four of them or only two of them, and Cary was the only definite. Now the second name partner—the first, actually—would be Alicia, and everyone would be okay with that, because the name on the masthead would be Florrick. Politics. Unavoidable politics. She needed to succeed, so why not make the most of her name? Ugh, how awful. Oh well.

Moving on. What were the other salient details Cary had divulged? Robyn, not Kalinda. That was one. And that Kalinda had found out second-ha—oh. What if Will found out about Florrick/Agos second hand? That would be disastrous. She'd have to talk to him. And he'd think she wanted to talk about throwing away their "bad timing" once and for all, which would make things even worse. It was beyond bad timing now. The problem was no longer finding the right moment to give things a try; it was that Alicia no longer had any interest in finding that moment. She felt giving things a try would be throwing away something good and stable for something that probably wouldn't make her happy in the long run. But Will still loved her, and she worried that she'd give him the wrong idea, false hope, once again, if she initiated a conversation. And could she trust herself to talk to him one-on-one? Her message hadn't been nearly as unequivocal as she'd intended it to be two nights ago, in the car.

What if there was some way to arrange things so that Cary and Alicia would both talk to Will, and then Alicia would ask Cary to leave, and then she'd tell Will, as a friend and employee? But that depended on Will not exploding once he heard the news, and Will had a proclivity for emotional outbursts and big gestures. She'd have to find a different way. Would a letter be too cowardly, even with the best of intentions? Probably. How about approaching him at work, as soon as she got back from her trip (she couldn't tell Will now; they needed more time to get things in place, to get contracts signed, fingers crossed the news didn't spill while she was away), and being very upfront about what she was trying to accomplish, not even bringing the romantic aspect into the conversation? She'd ruminate on it some more, but that was her plan.

For now, she'd have the much easier conversation. Peter would be home in half an hour. She hadn't thought about what she was going to say, and she wasn't worried.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a short little update! Additionally, because this chapter is a conversation between Alicia and Peter, I think this is a good time for me to say, for those of you who are reading this and aren't familiar with my opinions on the show, that I ship neither Alicia/Peter nor Alicia/Will. **

**Thanks for reading!**

* * *

At 12:36, precisely 30 minutes after Alicia had last looked at the clock, Peter, always punctual, walked in to their apartment. Into Alicia's apartment? How strange; they were officially back together and she had no idea whose apartment it was. The Florrick apartment. Peter, always punctual, walked into the Florrick apartment.

Peter closed the door, and moved towards where Alicia was sitting in the living room. The two sat in silence, finally alone together after all the campaigning and all the celebration. It was Peter that broke the silence.

"Still feeling 'odd'?"

"Yeah."

"So am I."

"Are you tired?"

"Are you kidding?"

Laughter.

"Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"I've decided... I..."

Peter's attention was piqued. She could tell he had no idea what she was about to say.

"... I'm leaving Lockhart/Gardner."

He looked floored; was clearly not expecting that.

"Alicia, I don't need you to come to Springfield with me. Work. You enjoy working. Don't giv—"

Oh. So that was what he thought she meant. He was in for a surprise.

"No, Peter, I..." she chuckled, "I'm starting my own firm."

"You're starting your own firm?"

"With Cary. The fourth-years. It's time. It'll be better for us."

Peter knew exactly what she meant.

"Wow, Alicia, I'm... congratulations?"

"You, too. On the election."

She hadn't wanted to spring this on him the second he got home, but at the same time, she had needed to tell him.

"Thanks."

"Peter, we don't have to talk about this now. You're exhausted. Sleep."

Peter gave her a gracious nod—she could see how tired he was—and headed towards the bedroom. Towards their bedroom? She'd need to sort that out. And she knew this conversation was far from over. Peter wasn't going to object, since he still seemed—perhaps not wrongly, she begrudgingly admitted, though still inexcusably—to be jealous of Will. And Peter would be an invaluable resource in getting the firm off the ground. They'd talk more. Still, despite his weariness, she'd expected a more enthusiastic reaction. Maybe it would register more with him later. She was still tired, too. Five hours of sleep was not nearly enough. She moved from the chair she was sitting on to the couch, curled up under a blanket, and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next step was to tell the kids, and now, Alicia and Peter were attempting to figure out the best way to break the news.

Mid-deliberation. Frustration. No good way to share the good news.

"It's a weird situation. Both of their parents' careers changing overnight," Alicia ventured.

"Quite literally," Peter replied jokingly, "in your case."

"I could say the same!"

Alicia thought back to the craziness of the voter fraud case. To the exhaustion, the urgency, and that damn kiss, then to Will, to that man she saw on election night who wasn't Will, to her reflection in that mirror, to the knob of her front door, to Cary in the doorway, to the mess of papers on her coffee table, and right back to the present.

A silence passed over the living room.

"I think we're overthinking it. Let's just... it'll be fine."

Alicia wanted to protest, because she wanted to do this right, and as far as she was concerned, when it came to telling her kids things, there was a right way and a wrong way. Peter's approach veered far too close for comfort to wrong.

"Hun. It's a good thing. Don't worry."

Maybe he was right. Maybe she was overthinking it. But did that make his method right?

"Pretend I'm Grace."

"What?"

"Pretend I'm Grace. Tell me your news."

"Alicia... really?"

"Yes."

"Okay, _Grace_. Your mom is starting her own firm."

She had to break character already. "_Peter. _Do you have to be so matter-of-fact?"

"What? That wasn't what you had in mind?" he returned, amused.

She smiled at him. He smiled back. She still wasn't about to let it go.

"Try it again."

"You're right, hun. Let's go back to brainstorming."

Perfect. This could have been a disagreement. Instead, they were finding a solution. Progress!

"What if we don't treat it seriously?" Peter volunteered.

Excuse me? Her career wasn't _serious?_ Sure, it wasn't the governorship, but...

"No, no, no, I mean with the kids. Joke around, make it seem less monumental. Something about how Zach's going off to college, I'm going to Springfield, Grace is going to be a Junior and have to start seriously thinking about college..."

Oh, that would work better. In fact, it might actually work. She finished his thought.

"What, 'and now, mom's starting her own law firm?'"

"Something like that."

"Sure. And we'll _have_ to play it by ear after that. I never know what Grace is going to say."

A key, in the door. Zach and Grace, home from Jackie's house.

"Oh! Sounds like we really will have to play it by ear!" Alicia exclaimed.

"What can I say? Good timing."

Shit. Couldn't he have said something else?


End file.
